On Wednesday 3 April 2019, architecture students from across the East Midlands came together for a one-day charrette hosted by Nottingham Trent University’s (NTU) School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment.
The RIBA East Midlands student charrette is an annual event, supported by RIBA East Midlands, with participation from the region's schools of Architecture, which this year included: NTU, University of Nottingham, De Montfort University (DMU), University of Lincoln, and University of Derby.
As part of the work of the region's member-led Education Group, the charrette provides a platform for schools of Architecture and their students to showcase their talent and creativity, as well as providing an opportunity to work creatively and collaboratively on a ‘live’ project in a team environment.
Students worked in mixed year and university groups on a design brief which had been developed by NTU in collaboration with Nottingham Castle Trust (NCT) as the project site was located within the prestigious Nottingham Castle re-development.
In the morning, students were welcomed to NTU and introduced to the brief by Gavin Richards (Head of School) and Lois Woods (Course Leader for BArch (Hons) Architecture). After visiting the Nottingham Castle site, the students spent the afternoon in the studio working on their designs, producing models and drawings before pin up and presentations later in the day. The RIBA East Midlands student charrette was generously sponsored by Ibstock Brick.
A judging panel including Richard Crowson of Watson Batty Architects (RIBA East Midlands Education Group Chair), and Gavin Richards (Head of School at NTU), chose Team 6 as the overall winners. The team comprised Paulina Owczarek (DMU), Tim Hayward-Browne (NTU), Marta Goudino (University of Derby), Paulina Bolcun (University of Lincoln), and Antoni Nedelchev (University of Nottingham).
Charrette organiser, Lois Woods, said: “As hosts of the second RIBA East Midlands Design Charrette, NTU wanted to provide students from across the East Midlands with the opportunity to work together collaboratively and to envisage new architectural spaces through physical model making. It was great to have the Nottingham Castle Trust (NCT) on board, who kindly offered us access to their site at the Castle..."
“The day was a huge success in what was a very fast-paced competition. All teams worked very hard and did really well to come up with some very exciting designs, particularly the 'brilliantly bonkers' (Heather Mayfield, NCT) winning project. We can’t wait to host the event in a future year once again!”
